Late Weymouth mom's friends, family honor her in 60-mile breast cancer walk

Joan Shea has worn through three pairs of walking shoes and lost 20 pounds since she started training for a 60-mile walk this month in memory of her Weymouth cousin, Suzanne Leary Ames.

By JODY FEINBERG

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By JODY FEINBERG

Posted Jul. 14, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 14, 2009 at 2:15 PM

By JODY FEINBERG

Posted Jul. 14, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 14, 2009 at 2:15 PM

ABINGTON

» Social News

Joan Shea has worn through three pairs of walking shoes and lost 20 pounds since she started training for a 60-mile walk this month in memory of her Weymouth cousin, Suzanne Leary Ames.

If dedication is measured in worn soles and burned fat, then Ames, a 43-year-old mother of three, has truly inspired it.

"Nothing was as poignant as Suzy's dying to spur us to do something," said Shea, a West Bridgewater mother of four children ages 5 to 16. "Not only are we impacted as a family, but so are people in our community because she is no longer here to do the things she did."

Ames died Feb. 4 from a heart condition. She was helping her three children, now ages 9 to 13, get ready for school when she collapsed. As her cousins mourned at her wake, they decided to turn their grief into something positive.

Within weeks of the funeral, Shea, four cousins, her 67-year-old mother and two family friends formed Bosom Buddies for Suzy. They started training and fundraising for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day walk to be held July 24-26. Each will raise at least $2,300 and walk 60 miles, camping two nights in Waltham. As a group, they'll raise more than $18,000 and walk 480 miles.

"We chose the 3-Day because we felt it was a huge challenge," said Shea, 43, who works full time hiring for UPS. "Suzy did so much in her short life and we felt we weren't doing enough. It inspired us to make a difference and do something big in her honor."

Ames, whose father, Weymouth Town Councilor Paul Leary, died of cancer in 2007, had raised funds for cancer research at the Relay for Life of the American Cancer Association. A visiting nurse with South Shore Elder Services, she also volunteered regularly with Meals on Wheels and built homes in Ecuador during a mission with her church, Old South Union Congregational.

"Before we did this, we all talked to our families and said 'This is a huge commitment. Can we do this for the next four or five months?'" Shea said. "Everyone was in agreement."

"Then I saw that there are people much older than me doing the walk," said Slack, 67, who works full time as a nurse for Old Colony Elder Services. "I just put one foot in front of the other, and I think that this is minor compared to what a person goes through with chemotherapy, radiation and a mastectomy."

After months of training, the women now walk 10 or more miles each weekend to condition their feet and legs. On weekdays, each follows her own routine. Shea walks three miles every weekday with a neighbor, rising at 4:30 a.m., and Slack walks about a mile and a half three times a day in her Middleboro neighborhood.

Page 2 of 2 - "Even if you're in really good physical shape, you won't make it if you don't train by walking," Shea said. "At this point, it's addicting."

The women have turned what could have been a fundraising chore into a chance to spend time with each other, their neighbors and women affected by breast cancer. They've held a yard sale, cocktail parties, brunches and a raffle.

"In this economy, we felt we had to put ourselves out there and interact with people, rather than just send out appeal letters," Shea said. "And it has been an eye-opening experience to meet so many people who are breast cancer survivors or who are suffering from breast cancer. We've bonded together and have become so much more aware of other people."

Close to their fundraising goals, they could just donate the money and skip the walk.

"But that misses the point, since it's really about the walk," Slack said. "It's about doing something to honor Suzy and to raise awareness of breast cancer."

When the walk kicks off in Framingham and ends at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, they'll each be wearing Bosom Buddies for Suzy pink T-shirts decorated with a drawing made by Ames' daughter Rebecca. The names of women who have died from breast cancer will be on the shirts, and the names of survivors will be on a sash.

Next year, the women plan to start a foundation in Ames' memory and do the Boston Heart Walk. For now, they're looking forward to feeling the community and energy created when 2,500 women walk together over three days.

"When we're meeting people and seeing survivors, that experience is what's going to get us through," Slack said.